Here’s How To Help Ralph Yarl In The Wake Of His Shooting

Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old man who allegedly shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl has today been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, prosecutors in the US state of Missouri have said.

Ralph had been on the way to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friend’s house at 10pm last Thursday when he mistakenly knocked at Andrew Lester’s door, confusing the 115th Street address Lester resides at for a nearby 115th Terrace address where his brothers were.

Lester is alleged to have shot Yarl twice, once in the head and once in the arm, telling police he believed someone was breaking into his home. Local reports state that Lester opened the main door to his house, then fired two shots at Yarl through his glass storm door, allegedly without exchanging a word. Incredibly, Yarl – a section leader in a marching band who recently earned a Missouri All-State Band honourable mention for playing the Bass Clarinet - survived the shooting and has since returned home from hospital, expected to make a full recovery.

‘I can tell you there was a racial component to this case,’ Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson told reporters at a news conference. He did not elaborate further, but he did state that there is no evidence Yarl entered Lester’s home and evidence proves he was shot through a glass door with a .32 calibre revolver.

Lester was taken into custody on April 13th but released less than two hours later pending further investigations. According to a probable cause statement, Lester told investigators he had heard his doorbell ring and grabbed a handgun before answering the door, was ‘scared to death’ by Yarl’s size and didn’t feel he could defend himself.

‘He stated he believed someone was attempting to break into the house, and shot twice (through an exterior storm door) within a few seconds of opening the (main) door,’ a police detective writes in the court document.

Family members of Yarl say the teenager went to three nearby homes after being shot before someone helped him, their family lawyer says President Joe Biden has since made a call to the family and spoke with them for 20 minutes. Celebrities such as Viola Davis, Justin Timberlake, Halle Berry, and Kerry Washington - as well as Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes - condemned the shooting.

How to help Ralph Yarl

Now though, people are seeking ways to help Ralph Yarl, and questioning why Lester was released from custody so quickly. With the public keen to show support for the Yarl family, ‘Go Fund Me Ralph Yarl’ is a trending search term on Google.

Here, you can find the Go Fund Me link to support the Yarl family’s medical bills. More than £2.5m has been raised so far. You can also contact prosecutor Zachary Thompson about the case by emailing prosecutor@claycopa.com.

Below, you can also find charities and organisations to support anti-racism efforts across the UK and US.